Kent Nagano conducts a fabulous finish for SummerFest

There are few works as time-tested as Rossini’s Overture to “The Barber of Seville.” Whether as the theme to a Bugs Bunny cartoon, a “Seinfeld” or “Simpsons” episode, or the all-too-common opening to a conventional symphony program, it’s one of classical music’s greatest hits.

But somehow, Kent Nagano, conducting the SummerFest Chamber Orchestra in an energetic closing concert Friday at Sherwood Auditorium, made it sound new.

That’s one of the hallmarks of a gifted conductor. Something that looks to be a routine warm-up number for the program of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (with pianist Mari Kodama), Maurer’s Sinfonia Concertante in A Minor for Four Violins and Strings, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, turns out instead to be something memorable.

Every musician who has ever played in even a youth orchestra can perform this overture in his or her sleep. But Nagano’s interpretation was a wake-up call. He made the slow sections just a touch slower, and the fast sections even faster, and in the final section, just about as fast as possible.

He added a little unconventional phrasing and a few unexpected accents.

But most of all, he had the complete attention of an ensemble that included many of the distinguished musicians who had performed in small chamber groups during the festival.

Hearing an ensemble this large in a room this small also contributed to the effect. The winds in particular sounded with unusual presence, but the entire orchestra had a visceral impact often lost in a larger concert hall.

Nagano approached Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in much the same way, not allowing the piece to settle into the well-worn groove etched by countless routine performances. He pushed the tempos a bit, but he also allowed room for the music to expand, and in the second movement Andante con moto, space to sing.

Nagano didn’t have to concern himself with making Ludwig Maurer sound new, as the piece was likely a first-time experience for most of the orchestra and the audience. Music history has not been kind to Maurer, but Maurer is extremely generous to the four violin soloists, providing a showcase for an enthused Philippe Quint, Cho-Liang Lin, Michelle Kim and Andrew Wan.

The solo quartet, whose members played with the ensemble for the rest of the concert (including Lin, the festival’s music director, who sat at the back of the first violin section), clearly enjoyed each other’s company.

Nagano and the orchestra’s accompaniment was impeccable, as it was in the Beethoven concerto distinguished by Kodama’s clear and incisive playing.